PRINCETON, NJ -- Six in 10 Americans (60%) believe the federal government has too much power, one percentage point above the previous high recorded in September 2010. At least half of Americans since 2005 have said the government has too much power. Thirty-two percent now say the government has the right amount of power. Few say it has too little power.

I couldn't find this posted so it is very relevant. Back in 2010 only 58% of Americans believed that the federal government had too much power. Now its 60%. Let's for a moment ask ourselves why the GOP are not effectively capitalizing on this increased distrust of big govt power? The same indicators that the GOP rode to victory on in 2010 are even more pronounced today. The difference is the GOP is not united and is sending mixed messages and is not speaking to that inherent very real skepticism of federal power in the electorate. The key to GOP wins is in tapping into this skepticism. Its not the Tea Party that is the problem. People only have retreated from self id with the Tea Party because of the media filter not because their core beliefs of the role of government has changed. The GOP needs to wake up and start running hard on this stuff. Not just speaking in monotone and trying way too hard not to be seen as a radical. Nothing is radical about limited government and more power to the people over their own lives. Why in the hell can't the GOP articulate this very simple resonant message that the electorate is already there waiting for them on.

You are exactly right. This is like a gold vein just waiting to be mined. This is one of the reasons I have come to believe that the GOP doesn’t want to win on a limited government message. That too many don’t want to limit the power of the federal government. This is not a losing issue for them.

5
posted on 10/22/2013 9:03:53 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

I favor a simpler visceral emotional approach. People don’t trust government and we have tons of recent examples to campaign on. Just speak to the people in a populist fashion. Also it shouldn’t be hard to come up with some populist policies around limiting government, its monitoring, its intrusion, its size. Make it personal.

8
posted on 10/22/2013 9:08:55 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

I believe there is a political class and I believe there are those that are outside of it like Cruz, Lee, and Paul though Paul is more willing to play ball with the intent to gain the power to change things. I figure about a third of elected officials don’t view themselves as a part of the political elite but of course those are the ones that are ridiculed and pounced on by the media.

10
posted on 10/22/2013 9:12:15 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

When 47% of the people pay no income taxes, they couldn’t care less about your call for lower taxes. And when tens of millions are on some form of government assistance, they don’t want to hear your plan for smaller government. That’s just the facts.

It’s a good question. The problem is primarily articulating a mechanism for limiting federal government power.

Here are some possibilities :

1. Return to the 1974 Budget control act and end the zero line budgeting process that guarnatees automatic program funding increases.

2. Some of the Levin liberty amendments on taxation, spending and such

3. Win the House and the Senate for Republicans. Not nearly enough is made of how Republican control of all of Congress is the last time the nation ran a surplus. I know some will quibble about brief bouts of republican control under Bush but switches made that largely inoperable compared to the House sweep of 94 and asending Republican control of the Senate in the late 1990s. A Republican senate would change the federal government in a big way.

4. Adopt budget models found in states with surpluses such as Texas. This would include legislator limits on talking to parties while legislation is pending.

5. Adopt an energy policy mirrored after other nation and state policies that produce growth and revenue. Offer a relatively deregulated view of fracking in exchange for massive treasury infusions gained by becoming a fossil fuel super state that dwarfs Saudi Arabia. Fracking makes that more than possible if a federal policy could usurp local enviro radicals. Moreover, the policy could boost US GDP growth rates above 4% which would almost instantly destroy the deficit.

Essentially a federal policy of drill baby drill. Realize that all of the current boom is limited to private lands. Opening federal holdings would be the death knell of OPEC and the beginning of a more than ONE TRILLION DOLLAR annual industry in the United States.

6. Creative federalism. Look at Republican states and derive federal policies that mirror their legislative and fiscal policies. Spin out block grants of entrenched federal programs to the states.

I think Obummer might have shot himself in the foot during the shut down. He should have done everything he could to make sure things stayed working for the most part but kept pointing out that things were much slower without all the manpower needed. Things were getting a bit shabby at the monuments because of the lack of necessary personal.

Then when anyone complained about the fedgov being too big or intrusive he could have dismissed it as the ranting of paranoids.

However he went out of his way to point out the the fedgov is not only way too involved in everything but that they can be used to make life unpleasant if King Poutypants decides to stamp his wittle foots and throw a tantrum.

I like a lot of those ideas. I also believe that we’d make headway advocating de-federalization of drug programs returning to the pre 1971 war on drugs model. We don’t have to get into the legalization argument but can be supporting an approach I think a majority of Americans could embrace. I think this could be done also with many social programs starting with many smaller ones. Empower states and empower people. When the federal government shuts down you shouldn’t have your state parks shutting down. Why not de-federalize those? We have to think the way the average person thinks. Too often GOP targets ideas to the wonks. We need to appeal to basic instincts of individualism.

17
posted on 10/22/2013 9:25:04 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

I believe America is becoming increasingly skeptical of big government but the GOP is failing to tap into it. I do believe America is more conservative than is represented by elections due to the media filters and academic bias scaring people away from conservative self-id. There have been several studies showing that peer pressure plays huge roll in suppressing natural conservative tendencies.

18
posted on 10/22/2013 9:27:50 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

That is why you run on re-organization of government not immediately eliminating government. De-federalization, empowering states, moving money local, stopping the circulation of money through Washington DC. We aren’t going to get rid of the Department of Ed we are going to empower states to take over the functions of it entirely. The key is to run up the angst against big intrusive government. Run against the beast while making sure you emphasize producing a better world where less people are dependent on federal handouts but have the benefit of a real job and career.

We aren’t running against Santa Claus. We are running against the devil an evil dehumanizing beast. People don’t trust government give them the hope for something better.

21
posted on 10/22/2013 9:33:19 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

“America is growing increasingly conservative.”
_________________________________________________
I think just the opposite.
The conservatives may now be crying louder, but the “gimmie more”
crowd is growing, thanks to immigration and breeding.
America will never return to be the country that we grew up in.

I believe we need to get people thinking differently. One thing that is clear centralization has not worked better than when the states were managing things themselves. Centralization just masks and spreads problems around while those in DC get to take a cut. Simplification and de-federalization works. It provides left leaning states the freedom to govern how they wish and conservative states to govern how they wish and the money conveyer belt ends. Most states already get nearly as much as they give to the federal government back in federal funds. Let’s cut out the middle man of DC. If we can get some good examples proving that de-federalization saves money and serves the public better then it can be used in more aggressive ways. Maybe deconstruct social security and Medicaid into independent state run entities. A long term strategy but I believe it work. The problem we have had as conservatives is being forced into an all or nothing approach with maximum perceived risk to those dependent on government programs.

26
posted on 10/22/2013 9:42:10 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

I think you are confusing the size of the megaphone of the left wing media and even if more people are dependent it doesn’t mean they like it. Some do of course but people wouldn’t be responding with such a high distrust of federal government if they weren’t open to limited government approaches.

29
posted on 10/22/2013 9:44:50 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

You hit the nail on the head. See the political class knows that a tea party like political entity is dangerous. They first witnessed this with Ross Perot. The GOP took advantage of the wave and got carried along with it. The big challenge is that after winning the GOP decided to go back to governing by the status quo hoping and thinking the Tea Party would die not understanding that the tea party isn’t a party its a view of government its a philosophy shared in part by even more people today than in 2010. The different is now that the Tea Party has been soiled by a media filter.

31
posted on 10/22/2013 9:48:30 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

Go to a site like MailOnline.com and click on any political article. Scroll down to the comments and see what people around the world are saying. 90+% of the commentary is decidedly conservative.

I've found this to be true of any website that allows un-moderated comments from the public. Practically 100 years of left-liberalism has gained the West nothing but decay, erosion, and the growth of destructive social policies.

32
posted on 10/22/2013 9:51:20 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

I believe that is true. Also there is a big benefit that is evident in Cruz. You listen to him speak and he sounds intelligent, he tells a story that the common man can relate to. Some liked to ridicule him his star wars references etc but that is how you transcend the boundaries. You speak the language of the common man. Too many GOP and conservatives want to focus on just the facts but being smart and being right isn’t enough. You have to sell your positions to people and liberty really isn’t that hard of a sell.

33
posted on 10/22/2013 9:57:07 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

“Conservatives want smaller government, correct?”
_____________________________________
Yes, of course, but America is pummeled every day by Marxist education, media, and entertainment.
If there was a strong conservative base, Obumbo would never have been re-elected.
When living in a cocoon of like minded conservatives, one tends to think they are the majority.
The conservatives, however, do not even have a party anymore. The Republican party is as about as useless as teats on a boar.

The big challenge is that after winning the GOP decided to go back to governing by the status quo hoping and thinking the Tea Party would die not understanding that the tea party isnt a party its a view of government its a philosophy shared in part by even more people today than in 2010.

And that view of the people's relationship to their federal government is growing bigger and stronger every year Il Douchebag is in office.

We Constitution loving patriots are now the rebels and renegades, while the left have become the ruling class status quo. The pendulum is swinging back to the right, and I don't think there's a damn thing the left can do to stop it, short of Bill Ayers 'solution'. That ain't gonna work because they couldn't take our guns.

Wait until the pain of Obamacare sets in in every household. The converts to the Tea Party side of the ledger are going to ratchet up like nobody's business. The sun is setting on big government liberalism. This is the Commies' last hurrah and Obama is the MC who will turn out the lights of their 100 year party in 2016.

Oh, and he can take all his republican quislings with him when he goes, if we don't kick them to the curb first.

35
posted on 10/22/2013 10:03:37 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

I agree. People are increasingly seeing the paradise lost in pursuit of the great progressive leftocracy. What we are missing here and what is stifling what should be a conservative dominance from sea to shining sea is the lack of a vehicle. When conservatives run nationally they are immediately running against not just the Democrat party, not just the progressives in the Republican party, but also against the great media and academic complex. That we win at all shows the conservatism does have a basis in reality that is often deeper and more resonant that the powers of propaganda. We need to change the game we need to speak boldly of liberty and what it means for a common person and the plight of their children. We need to tell stories like Reagan that touch the mind but are driven home with the heart. We need to speak to the better natures of a mother or father who wants to see a better life for their children but is fearful as to how. Make people see the possibility not in what the government can do for them but in what they can accomplish themselves.

36
posted on 10/22/2013 10:03:42 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

I think we are approaching a great upheaval. The only reason it hasn’t happened is because people are confused and I believe depressed. The Democrats are playing their war on women card to save their lives but that is eventually going to run out as is their race baiting card. Pain has a way of disinfecting ignorance.

38
posted on 10/22/2013 10:06:57 PM PDT
by Maelstorm
(The political class love diversity and choice only when the its choices they approve of.)

You might want to kick the quislings to the curb, but the likely outcome is that they will quisle to the right as readily as they quisled to the left. Just for the sake of being good Republicans. I heartily recommend refraining from the circular firing squad. Don’t be as concerned about what you can remove from the GOP as about what you can add to it. Because without good souls to fill those holes, it’s just asking for a Democrat backfill. Counterproductive. Better to have weather vanes in there when the wind is going the right way, than dogged contrarians.

40
posted on 10/22/2013 10:09:20 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

The average Joe is changing while those at the head of government are not. I think of them and the LSM as Baghdad Bobs - a bunch of effing liars who project to the public they have it all under control.

As more people wake up and smell the hot coffee of conservatism things are going to get more testy in the District of Criminals. Just watch!

41
posted on 10/22/2013 10:10:51 PM PDT
by Jack Hydrazine
(Im not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)

What we are missing here and what is stifling what should be a conservative dominance from sea to shining sea is the lack of a vehicle. When conservatives run nationally they are immediately running against not just the Democrat party, not just the progressives in the Republican party, but also against the great media and academic complex.

Agree, but more and more, average Americans see the big picture of the interconnected web of Socialist/Liberal/Commies in all of our major institutions, and are correctly identifying them as the ruling power class who are ultimately responsible for all of the worsening conditions we've been enduring for decades.

The fops, lapdogs, and fawning lackeys in the press and academia don't have the power over people's minds they once did. They've been lying to the people, promising every sort of utopian result since at least JFK's day, and what have we got? Economic and societal ruin everywhere we look. There isn't a single measurable survival metric that's doing better than it was in times long past.

People innately understand that those in power create the conditions we see around us, and though it may take the culture an exceedingly long time to firmly get a grip on it, eventually the truth is outed by the sheer mass of human experience and direct observation.

Even worse for the left, is that conditions in America have taken a huge downward turn since they've been in firm control of the government. Obama can stand up and blame George Bush and the Republicans until the cows come home, but there comes a point where the public grows sick of the blame game, and wants those in charge to produce some measurable results.

That time is now. 90,000,000 Americans of working age have left the workforce in recent years. How much longer do you think they're going to give Prissydent Pouty a pass on failing to do the things it takes to really get our economy working again? It's been five long years, and he's still making promises like he's running for office. The average man in the street is watching him and thinking to themselves what an empty husk of a pretender he is.

No, the Republicans aren't seizing the easy victory over this abysmal situation like they should, but I don't think it matters. I think there's a growing contingent of Americans who rightly see the establishment ruling class for what it is, and aren't blinded any longer by party labels. It's a relatively recent development in public consciousness which can't be countered by the perfumed princes in Washington in any way.

The people are now looking for a new class of representatives who reflect their beliefs and desires. People who share their dogged determination to evict the scoundrels who've destroyed so much, and begin the hard work of restoring what's good in this country.

42
posted on 10/22/2013 10:30:03 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

I think we are approaching a great upheaval. The only reason it hasnt happened is because people are confused and I believe depressed.

Too true, but more and more, that depression is turning to anger.

People understand that they're not the ones responsible for the degraded condition of our country. Those princes sitting pretty up on Capitol Hill are, and the people know it. One by one, the people are looking around themselves and are wondering why they let the bastards get away with it for so long.

I think this thing is a cauldron that will boil over before Obama's term is up. Especially when the pain of Obamacare truly hits.

Like you said, pain disinfects ignorance.

43
posted on 10/22/2013 10:36:23 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

I heartily recommend refraining from the circular firing squad. Dont be as concerned about what you can remove from the GOP as about what you can add to it.

People talk about a so-called 'circular firing squad' but I don't see shooting down quisling Republicans as firing on my own at all. They're as much an enemy of the republic as the Commiecrats are.

The new realization on the center-right is that party affiliation is practically of no value anymore. What a politician says and DOES is all that matters. Those who work against and vote against our interests, are little more than pretenders and frauds who need to be ejected from politics through the force of elections.

And that's exactly what we've been doing since Obama came to office. And we're going to keep on doing it until we've got a working majority of real patriots and fighters in Congress.

44
posted on 10/22/2013 10:41:52 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

“Let him without sin cast the first stone” applies in the land of politicians.

I’m warning: Look for friends FIRST, then NEXT concern yourself with enemies. The immutable state of affairs is that good is far more powerful than evil. Evil gets its power through being believed. Don’t believe it, and it just sits there powerlessly spouting lies to be scoffed at.

45
posted on 10/22/2013 10:48:24 PM PDT
by HiTech RedNeck
(The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)

Im warning: Look for friends FIRST, then NEXT concern yourself with enemies. The immutable state of affairs is that good is far more powerful than evil.

No need to warn me, friend. I'm quite alright.

The point is, we have to handle this methodically, rationally, and surgically. If a Republican's voting record shows him to be on the wrong side of history, he's got to be primaried as soon as possible with a strong TEApublican candidate. We won't win 'em all right out of the chute, but we'll win enough to begin turning the tide in Washington.

We were only getting started in 2010. We've got a ways to go, but we're getting there.

47
posted on 10/22/2013 10:56:43 PM PDT
by Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)

What the American people say in a poll doesn’t always translate into a corresponding action. If you ask people if government is too powerful, most people will say yes just because they are ticked off at politicians right now. Ask them if they want to give up their own government goodies to reduce government power, and you’ll get a different answer.

An overwhelming majority also say they want to see all of Congress tossed out of office, and yet, almost all incumbents win re-election over and over again.

Polls that ask vague questions about beliefs are meaningless. Polls about individual candidates at election time tend to be more accurate, whether we like them or not.

49
posted on 10/23/2013 12:10:25 AM PDT
by Pining_4_TX
(All those who were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48)

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